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pumpkin

It’s hard to stay on track nutritionally this time of year. Let’s face it.

Halloween candy.

Thanksgiving desserts.

And we can’t forget Christmas! UGHHHHHHHHH

Staying healthy during times of tricks and treats CAN be done. It just takes preparation and…well…willpower.

One place I find a lot of my inspiration from is…wait for it, wait for it! Pinterest.

I know, I know. I’m like every other woman on the planet. BUT I just hopped on the Pinterest band wagon only a few short months ago.

However, pinners beware. Not all pins are created equally.

The most important piece of advice I can give you when looking at Pinterest recipes is to read them closely. First of all, the recipes can be off. I’ve made a few recipes from there where the end result was NOT like the picture or correct. Try to look at the comments and see if anyone else had made the recipe or if the pinner themselves actually made it.

Second, unless it was from a reputable website, you need to double check their nutrition facts. I made a chili a few weeks ago that was dubbed “The Biggest Loser Chili Recipe” and the calories were WAY off. When making a recipe, I go to the Calorie Count Website and input all of the ingredients. I know it’s time consuming, but it’s the only way to really see the nutritional content of what you’re cooking.

Adding on to the point I previously made, checking nutrition is extremely important when it comes to clicking on those “healthy” pins. Sometimes those “healthy” recipes are full of sugar, especially the hidden sugar that the fitness world preaches about. Yes, that apple pie you want to make is a healthier version, but that doesn’t mean you should eat more than one piece or that you can have it every day. Any kind of baking you do at home can be considered healthier because YOU are the one making it – It’s not filled with all of those preservatives or additional funky sounding ingredients that you get at the grocery store.

This brings me to my next topic, which is more of a picture and recipe I HAVE to share because it came out AMAZING. I spen last Friday carving pumpkins with my friends and I said I’d bring dessert. Now, not everyone I know is on my healthy eating bandwagon, so I had to find something that would fit my nutritional bill AND taste delicious.

I scoured the internet for recipes and stumbled upon one for 60 calorie pumpkin cakes. It looked easy enough, so I figured why the hell not? And THIS was the end result:

My feet made a cameo at the bottom. Sorry about that 🙂 I cut my squares into 28 instead of 35 so they were slightly more than 60 calories but WOW. Just wow. My friends and family loved them. They were moist, pumpkin-y, and the cream cheese frosting was out of this world. If you want the recipe, you can find it here. I highly recommend it to anyone, even if you aren’t a health nut like myself.

This coming Friday I’m going to a Halloween party with The Drummer, and I need to bring something but I have like ZERO time so I decided to make these bad boys:

Courtesy of skinnymom.com

I’ll post a picture of them when I actually make them this weekend. They aren’t the HEALTHIEST but I don’t know The Drummer’s friends well enough to engulf them with my craziness so these will suffice. If you want to beat me to it, find the recipe here!

Hope you guys have a great week! I’m new to this whole health blogging thing, so if anyone has any requests, I’d love to hear them!

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